Monday, February 02, 2009

I just realized that we are quickly approaching the half-way mark until your next birthday. Which means I can no longer deny that you are a child, one who is honest to a fault ("well, actually Mama, I don't like this food you made"), who won't let me skip bath time ("but I'm dirty!") and who has figured out how to bring any conversation back to his penis, which means your man card should arrive in our mailbox any day now.

Your seriousness continues to crack me up. You've renamed the game room and have declared that we should refer to it as your office. You'll regularly tell us during dinner that you can't go to bed yet, you need to finish your work. Of course, your work hardly ever involves cleaning up after yourself when you're done, but hey, one step at a time, right?

You love your brother, I've said that in many posts before, but now, you've discovered you have much power over him. You have the power to make him laugh and, even better, you have the power to scare him into filling his diaper. Which, like any older sibling, you find to be an awesome power to have.

This month, you're learning about the bones of the body at school, like any normal three-year old does, because who needs to learn about things like the sounds animals make or itsy bitsy spider in Spanish when you can learn about the skull or the humerus. This has resulted in interesting conversations with you, like you always test us asking us if our nasal cavity is hard or soft, or like the time you hit your shoulder and said "ow, I just banged my clavicle!"

These past weeks, you've developed this habit of making a kissing noise when I tell you goodnight and that I love you, as I'm walking out of your room. I always respond with my own kiss noise, which results in a kiss off that lasts until I'm halfway down the hall.

You've become obsessed with the sports games on the Wii and can bowl a really mean game. Like me, you hate losing and get frustrated when you're not naturally good at a game. The other day, you beat me at tennis, fair and square, and the pride on your face at that moment made me want to lose every game for the rest of my life to you. I always want you to feel like you can take on the world, like you can beat anyone. And yet, at the same time, I want you to be able to shake off defeats and develop a thick-enough skin that you can still have the confidence to succeed, even when you aren't the best at something.

I love you so much. I love your wit, your spirit, your zest for life, your curiosity, but most of all, I love what a good human being you are. Your kindness, your sensitivity and your sweetness amaze me every single day. Don't ever, ever let the world take that away from you, my darling boy. The world can be a mean, dark, angry place and if anything, it needs more people like you.

Such a precious age, huh? I registered my 3 and a half year old for kindergarten today... I can't believe he's starting school in September! I'm going to be an emotional mess, let me tell you! Your boys are seriously adorable, and your posts continue to be awesome! Despite your lack of time, you still rock! :)

A Canadian girl who fell in love with a Texan boy and is slowly learning to love everything else about the Lone Star State. The only thing shorter than me is my attention span.
Email me at catwoman.in.texas at gmail.com